WEBVTT EUTAW STREET WHICH IS CLOSE TO THE HOLIDAY INN.WHAT ARE YOU SEEING?>> WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TYPE OF EXPLOSION THIS WAS.WE DON'T KNOW IF IT'S ELECTRICALEXPLOSION OR IF IT WAS A NATURALGAS EXPLOSION THAT IS HANDLED BBGE.FIRE DEPARTMENT HAS REQUESTED BGE TO COME TO THE LOCATION.THE RESPONSE TIME, THIS COULD BEAS MUC AS AN HOUR BEFORE THEY GET HERE.NOW, THE EXPLOSION WAS SO SEVERE, IT LITERALLY JUST BLEW THE ROAD UP ONEUTAW STREET.BITS AND PIECES.WE DON'T KNOW THE SEVERITY.THEY HAVE REQUESTED A COMPLETE EMC CHANNEL TO HANDLE PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN INJURED FROM THISEXPLOSION.WE SAW A COUPLE PEOPLE BEING TREATED BY EMS PERSONNEL ON PRATT STREET JUST SOUTH OF WHERETHIS EXPLOSION IS.CITY POLICE HAVECORDOENED OFF THE AREA.THE POLICE ARE NOT SURE OF HOW SAFE THE ROADWAY IS THERE.THE CONCERN IS THAT IT COULD BUCKLE OR THERE COULD BE ANOTHEREXPLOSION.WE'RE STILL TRYING TO FIND OUT EXACTLY WHAT IT WAS THAT EXPLODED.RIGHT NOW WE JUST DON'T KNOW.AT FIRST WE THOUGHT IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN STEAM BUT THIS APPEARSTO BE SOME TYPE OF FIRE THAT MAYBE BURNING UNDER GROUND AND DOESNOT HAVE ENOUGH OXYGEN TO SUSTAIN THIS FIRE.>> ROY, CAN WE ASK YOU A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS?>> SURE.>> AS WE'RE LOOKING AT THIS, SO MUCH DEBRIS.THE CARS TO OUR LEFT COMPLETELY COVERED.THAT BLEW UP FOR A LONG DISTANCE.ARE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE INJURED PEOPLE WHO MIGHT HAVE BEEN ON THE STREET WALKING BY, DRIVING BY, SOMETHING LIKETHAT?>> HAVE NO IDEA.ALL I KNOW IS WE HAVE PEOPLE INJURED FROM THE EXPLOSION HERE.I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY WERE, WHEN THEY WERE INJURED.CITY FIRE CREWS WERE VERY, VERY QUICK IN THEIR RESPONSE TO THIS LOCATION HERE.OBVIOUSLY IT'S GOING TO IMPACT PEOPLE TRYING TO GET TO THE ORIOLES GAME HERE AT CAMDEN YARDS HERE ON PRATT STREET -- I MEAN EUTAW STREET.FIGURE A ONE BLOCK RADIUS FROM THIS LOCATION IS PRETTY MUCH BLOCKED OFF.PRATT STREET IS BLOCKED OFF GOING EASTBOUND.LOMBARD STREET IS BLOCKED OFF GOING WEST BOUND.THEY HAVE CITY POLICE OFFICERS REDIRECTING TRAFFIC AND THEY HAVE BLOCKED OFF TRAFFIC ONEUTAW STREET AS WELL.WEIR STILL TRYING TO GET A HANDLE ON HOW THEY'RE HANDLING THE SITUATION. WE'VE BEEN MONITORING SCANNER TRAFFIC AT THIS LOCATION.WE JUST NOW SPOTTED ANOTHER FIRETHAT HAS STARTED IN WESTERN BALTIMORE CITY.SO WE SEE FLAMES SHOOTING UP FROM THAT.THAT'S SOMETHING ELSE THAT CITY FIRE CREWS HAVE TO DEAL WITH RIGHT NOW IN DOWNTOWN BALTIMORE.WHICH IS JUST GONNA AGGRAVATE THE SITUATION AS FAR AS DEALING WITH EQUIPMENT GOING FROM THIS LOCATION.NOW THEY HAVE ANOTHER FIRE THEY GOT TO DEAL WITH IN WEST BALTIMORE.>> WE JUST GOT SOME CLARIFICATION ON THE POSSIBLE NATURE OF THIS.ACCORDING TO THE OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, THEY SAY THAT WHAT WE'RE SEEING WAS CAUSED BY STEAM.>> LIKELY CAUSED BY STEAM.WE DON'T KNOW THAT FOR SURE.>> IT'S POSSIBLE.THE ONLY REASON WE KIND OF WONDER ABOUT THAT IS THAT STEAM DISSIPATES FAIRLY RAPIDLY.>> YES, IT DOES.>> WE'RE SEEING STEAM, WE'RE SEEING SMOKE OR REMNANTS OF IT, ALL THE WAY TO CITY HALL.>> FOR CLARIFICATION, ROY, TYPICALLY WHEN WE SEE SOMETHING LIKE THIS COMING FROM THE MIDDLEOF A ROAD WAY, IT'S ELECTRICAL IN NATURE.A MANHOLE GOES UP IN NATURE.THEN YOU SEE FIRE AND SMOKE COMING OUT OF A MANHOLE.THIS BLEW RIGHT FROM THE ROAD WAY.>> AS FAR AS WE CAN TELL.I HAVEN NOTICED MANHOLE COVER ATTHAT LOCATION.WE JUST MOVED AROUND TO THE OTHER SIDE OF IT.DAMAGE IS SO EXTENSIVE.I MEAN, LOOK HOW MUCH DIRT AND DEBRIS.THIS IS ON THE TPHORLT SIDE OF THE EXPLOSION AREA.I MEAN, THE STREET HAS JUS BUCKLED.THE CONCRETE BLOCKED OFF.HAS JUST BEEN RIPPED AWAY AND THROWN OUT.SO I MEAN, IT WAS A MASSIVE EXPLOSION AT THIS LOCATION.WHAT IT WAS WE JUST DON'T KNOW.IT'S PLAUSIBLE IT COULD BE STEAM.THAT WOULD MAKE SENSE.I DON'T KNOW THE INFRASTRUCTURE UNDERNEATH HERE AS TO WHY THERE WOULD BE STEAM AT THIS LOCATION THIS TIME OF YEAR.BUT LOOK AT THE DAMAG TO THE CARS.>> NOT KNOWING THE EXTENSIVE NATURE OF THIS, THEY'RE TAKING SOME PRECAUTIONS.I UNDERSTAND THEY JUST BLOCKED TRAFFIC IN SOME AREAS.>> EUTAW, LOMBARD AND PRATT STREETS ARE ALL BLOCKED.DEFINITELY AVOID THAT AREA.WE DID GET A TREAT FROM BALTIMORE POLICE WHO SAY DEFINITELY EXPECT DELAYS ON ALL OF THAT AREA DOWN THERE.LOMBARD, EUTAW, PRATT WHICH ARE MAJOR THOROUGHFARESESPECIALLY ON A GAME NIGHT.>> YOU HAVE TO WONDER ABOUT THE INTEGRITY OF THE ROAD WAYS.WE DON'T KNOW HOW BADLY THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE ROAD WAYS MIGHT BE DAMAGED AND WHETHER THEY CAN HANDLE CAR TRAFFIC.>> ROY SAID THEY SET UP A 200 FOOT PERIMETER, 200 YARDS, I CAN'T REMEMBER WHICH.>> IF YOU NOTICE, ONE OF TH ENGINES ARE JUST NOW SPRAYING A STREAM, A FOG LIKE STREAM OF WATER FROM THE ENGINE IN THE AREA OF WHERE THIS HAS HAPPENED.I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHY, OTHER THAN MAYBE TO TRY AND PROTECT ORCALM DOWN WHAT'S COMING OUT FROMTHE HOLE.WE STILL DON'T HAVE INFORMATION NOR DOES THE FIRE DEPARTMENT FROM WHAT WE ARE HEARING ON THE SCANNER.THAT'S WHY THE SAFETY ZONE BETWEEN THE CONCERN OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE ROAD WAY NOT BEING SECURE AND NOT KNOWING THEEXACT CAUSE OF IT>> YOU HAVE TO WALK RIGHT PAST THERE TO GET TO THE BALL PARK.>> IT WILL BE SOME SORT OF TERRIBLE SITUATION TRYING TO GETTO THE BALL PARK.YOU ALL SAID BGE LAST BEEN CALLED TO THE SCENE BUT THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS, BUT THEY AREN'T GOING TO BE THERE FOR AWHILE.>> THEY JUST PUT OUT A REQUEST TO MAKE SURE ALL FIRE PERSONNEL AS WELL AS LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL STAY AWAY FROM THE MANHOLE COVERS BECAU THEY DON'T KNOW THE EXTENSIVENESS OF THIS INCIDENT HERE.THEY JUST PUT THAT OUT AS A SAFETY BROADCAST TO REMAIN CLEAROF ALL MANHOLE COVERS IN THE AREA OF UTAH STREET WHILE THEY DEAL WITH THIS EMERGENCY HERE.>> I WONDER WHAT THEY'RE DOING AT THE MARRIOTT HOTEL NOW.IF THEY DECIDED TO EVACUATE THE HOTEL.>> WE HAVE A COUPLE NEWS CREWS DOWN THERE SO WE CAN GET WORD OFWHAT'S HAPPENING FROM THE GROUNDLEVEL.>> ALSO, WHILE ROY IS CHATTING THERE WITH THE TRAFFIC CONTROL, WE, NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WILL BE ON FROM 7 TO 7:30.THAT HAS JUST BEEN MOVED BACK FOR HALF AN HOUR.SO YOU WILL BE SEEING NIGHTLY NEWS BUT NOT UNTIL 7.>> GIVE YOU A TIMELINE.THIS ALL STARTED ROUGHLY ABOUT, LITTLE MORE THAN 1 MINUTES AGO.JUST CAME OUT OF NOWHERE.ALL RIGHT.I UNDERSTAND DEBORAH WEINER HAS NEWS FOR US.>> I JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITTHE MAYOR PUGH WHO TELLS ME SHE IS HEADED TO THE SCENE.SHE GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH THE FIRE CHIEF.SHE DESCRIBED IT IN HER WORDS THIS W A SINK HOLEI SPOKE TO HER SPOKESMAN.SHE SOUNDED CALM BUT DELIBERATE IN HER CONVERSATION.THIS IS A HUGE STORY IN DOWNTOWNBALTIMORE AS YOU SAID ON A GAME NIGHT.THE VIDEO WAS DRAMATIC.CERTAINLY APPEARS TO BE AS THE GROUND JUST CAME UP.AND THE STEAM IS VERY MUCH AN ISSUE HERE AT EUTAW AND LOMBARD STREETS.THE MAYOR TELLS ME SHE'S HEADED TO THE SCENE AND SHE'LL GET BACKTO US AS SOON AS SHE CAN.>> THANK YOU VERY MUCH.>> ALL WE HAVE VIDEO THAT WAS TAKEN BY A VIEWER AND POSTED TO TWITTER.WE'LL LOOK AT THAT.THIS HAPPENED MOMENTS -- WAS TAKEN MOMENTS AFTER THE EXPLOSIOIT LOOKS LIKE STEAM.>> AS CAPTAIN ROY MENTIONED STEAM DISSIPATES QUICKLY.THAT IS PRETTY THICK.I'M THINKING IT'S A COMBINATION OF SMOKE AND STEAM.THERE'S A LOT OF IT.WHATEVER IT IS.YOU SEE THE TOWER THERE IN THBACKGROUND.HAPPENING NEAR PRATT AND EUTAW STREETS.WE WANT TO SEND IT BACK TO CAPTAIN ROY TAYLOR.>> YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD.COULD BE A COMBINATION OF STEAM AND SMOKE FROM WHATEVER IS GOINGON AT THE STREET LEVEL HERE.WE'RE TRYING TO INCH UP HERE SO WE CAN GET A BETTER GRASP OF WHERE THIS EXPLOSION TOOK PLACE.I KNOW MAYOR WAS CALLING IT A SINK HOLE.THIS IS OBVIOUSLY AN EXPLOSION.STEAM IS EXTREMELY POWERFUL.YOU CAN SEE THE DIRT AND DEBRIS AND JUST HOW THE ROAD IS JUST TOTALLY TORN TO SHREDS.THAT'S A GOOD SIZE HOLE THERE FROM THE EXPLOSION.THE DAMAGE THAT HAS BEEN DONE TOTHE MARRIOTT, TO THE HOLIDAY INN, TO THE CARS THAT WERE PARKED IN THE PARKING LOT, CARS PARKED ON EUTAW STREET.WE ALSO NOTICED THAT AT LEAST THREE PEOPLE WE SAW BEING TREATED ON PRATT STREET BY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, IT SEEMED TO BENONLIFE THREATENING INJURIES THAT THEY SEEMED TO BE DEALING WITH AT THIS LOCATION FROM THIS EXPLOSION.BUT FIRE DEPARTMENT IS STILL ON SCENE.THEY'RE STILL WAITING FOR BGE TOGET HERE.WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN WORD YET THAT THEY HAVE ARRIVED.SEEMS LIKE SOME OF IT STARTED TODISSIPATE.IT'S NOT BELLOWING AS HARD AS ITWAS WHEN WE FIRST GOT HERE.>> WE CAN CONFIRM THE FIRE DEPARTMENT CONFIRMED IT IS WHAT THEY ARE CALLING A STEAM PIPE EXPLOSION.WE'VE ALL BEEN WONDERING.IT LOOKS LIKE STEAM.IT IS DEFINITELY A STEAM PIPE EXPLOSION.TWO CIVILIANS HAVE NONLIFE THREATENING INJURIES.>> THAT'S GOOD.>> LOOK AT THE DAMAGE TO THAT CAR.>> ABSOLUTELY.THIS IS A MAP HERE, AS YOU CAN SEE THE AREA THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE ON EUTAW STREETWEST LOMBARD STREET AT NORTH EUTAW.

5 injured after underground explosion in downtown Baltimore

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Updated: 4:37 AM EDT Jun 21, 2017

BALTIMORE —

Five people have been injured after an underground steam pipe exploded underneath a roadway near Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

Fire officials said a steam pipe exploded around 6:10 p.m. Tuesday on Eutaw Street between West Lombard and Pratt streets. Police said no criminal actions are suspected.

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The blast sent debris, including chucks of asphalt and dirt, across the an entire block, breaking windows and covering cars parked on the road.

"I think that we really dodged a major catastrophe here. When you think about the Orioles game taking place, folks were not allowed to park on this side of the street" where the explosion occurred, Mayor Catherine Pugh said. "I'm just glad that the citizens of Baltimore are safe. The fans attending the Orioles game are safe."

"We really did dodge a bullet today. The injuries we have right now are all considered low-level injuries," Baltimore Fire Chief Niles Ford said. "We did have five people transported from this area."

Ford said at 7:50 p.m. that the steam had been turned off. Baltimore Fire officials said hazardous materials teams were monitoring the air, and there was only steam. Water from fire hoses keeping are debris down.

WBAL-TV 11 News obtained a statement from Veolia, which operates steam pipes in the city:

"Veolia emergency crews are on the scene and have isolated and shut off the steam supply to the affected area. Crews will continue to assess the situation."

"At this time, the root cause of the steam release is not known, but we have initiated our routine forensic investigation procedures to determine why this event occurred."

"We remain working closely with the Fire Department and Office of Emergency Management to resolve the situation quickly and safely."

Fire crews hosed down the nearby hotels with water, creating what's called a water curtain just in case something else happened that could trigger a fire.

SkyTeam 11 Capt. Roy Taylor said there was damage to the side of the Holiday Inn hotel, and windows were blown out of the Marriott hotel. Guests of the hotels were being asked to shelter in place; the hotels were not evacuated.

"The damage is so extensive," Taylor said. "The concrete is ripped away and thrown out."

Joshua Anderson was sure it was a bomb that knocked him right on his back.

"It just happened just that quick, just 'boom' explosion," Anderson said.

Anderson was one of the people who suffered minor injuries when the pipe exploded. He said he has a sore back and some bruises, and his equipment is a mess.

Kevin King was standing nearby as well.

"All of a sudden, 'boom,' that was it," King said. "Nothing (but) black smoke. I know it scared people at the hotel as well as that baseball game."